Comments on: Learn The Skies With AstroNavigatorII http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/ Making Windows Mobile Life Better Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:34:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Gary Oberbrunner http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-721 Gary Oberbrunner Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:26:03 +0000 http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-721 Hi Konstatin -- thanks for the pointer! Wow, you're right, Astromist has everything you could think of. But it still doesn't scroll as smoothly as AstroNavigator! :-) (Of course maybe I just haven't found the option yet; it's a huge program.) Hi Konstatin — thanks for the pointer! Wow, you’re right, Astromist has everything you could think of. But it still doesn’t scroll as smoothly as AstroNavigator! :-) (Of course maybe I just haven’t found the option yet; it’s a huge program.)

]]> By: Konstantin http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-718 Konstantin Tue, 30 Oct 2007 06:17:11 +0000 http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-718 Gary, we'll definitely think about a more "pro" version of AstroNavigator II. Meanwhile I suggest you to google for astromist - this is something you should be really happy with as the advanced amateur astronomer. Tariq, look forward to seeing the write up on AstroNavigator II. And rain really? You're lucky, we here have a lot of snowing already and it doesn't mealt anymore :) Gary, we’ll definitely think about a more “pro” version of AstroNavigator II. Meanwhile I suggest you to google for astromist - this is something you should be really happy with as the advanced amateur astronomer.

Tariq, look forward to seeing the write up on AstroNavigator II. And rain really? You’re lucky, we here have a lot of snowing already and it doesn’t mealt anymore :)

]]> By: Gary Oberbrunner http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-713 Gary Oberbrunner Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:56:03 +0000 http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-713 Your points are very good -- I think your idea of targeting the casual user is very sensible! "What is that bright thing I see in the sky?" For me, I'm a more advanced amateur astronomer, so I'm sorry if I seemed too condescending. I should have noticed you're trying to bring more people to astronomy, which is a wonderful thing! So definitely thanks for that. And yes, I agree with your comments about Pocket Stars; the UI layout is not always as sensible and intuitive as it ought to be. It confused me too. There's definitely room for improvement there. Actually, my favorite pocket astronomy program ever was http://www.aho.ch/pilotplanets/ -- it had a brilliant UI, and a very clever screen for showing where things are in the sky with a circle for compass direction and a nearby semicircle for elevation. Too bad he's not working on a Windows Mobile version; but maybe that's also an opportunity for you. If you ever want to make a more "pro" type program and can keep the beautiful smooth scrolling and nice interface you have in AstroNavigator II, I'll be the first in line! Your points are very good — I think your idea of targeting the casual user is very sensible! “What is that bright thing I see in the sky?” For me, I’m a more advanced amateur astronomer, so I’m sorry if I seemed too condescending. I should have noticed you’re trying to bring more people to astronomy, which is a wonderful thing! So definitely thanks for that.

And yes, I agree with your comments about Pocket Stars; the UI layout is not always as sensible and intuitive as it ought to be. It confused me too. There’s definitely room for improvement there.
Actually, my favorite pocket astronomy program ever was http://www.aho.ch/pilotplanets/ — it had a brilliant UI, and a very clever screen for showing where things are in the sky with a circle for compass direction and a nearby semicircle for elevation. Too bad he’s not working on a Windows Mobile version; but maybe that’s also an opportunity for you.

If you ever want to make a more “pro” type program and can keep the beautiful smooth scrolling and nice interface you have in AstroNavigator II, I’ll be the first in line!

]]> By: Tariq Bamadhaj http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-710 Tariq Bamadhaj Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:49:48 +0000 http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-710 Hi Konstantin Thank you for your thoughts and input on this. I will definitely be doing another short write up on this soon. Just that it has been raining the last couple of days over here which makes star-gazing almost impossible. Hi Konstantin

Thank you for your thoughts and input on this. I will definitely be doing another short write up on this soon. Just that it has been raining the last couple of days over here which makes star-gazing almost impossible.

]]> By: Konstantin http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-704 Konstantin Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:23:31 +0000 http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-704 Dear Gary Oberbrunner, Thank you very much for your comment. You get it right when you say that AstroNavigator II is " not a “serious” astronomy program". We always try to keep things easy, here at VITO. This too much eye candy, as you call it, helps a regular user feel confident when he looks in the night sky fro the first time, and finally they find themselves interested in astronomy - just because they can finally recognize the stars or planets above them. I've learnt my horoscope constellation (cancer) this way myself and finally started to recognize the Great Bear (Ursa Major). I completely agree with you when you advise Pocket Stars as a serious alternative. I would also add that the latter is more for professionals unlike AstroNavigator II. We tried here Pocket Stars and could not figure out what to do in half an hour, so just uninstalled it. The impression was - a lot of features but you really don't know what to do with them all and what are they for. So, when you say "selectable magnitude limit" or "ephemeris" - these words make me shiver. With AstroNavigator II you are ready to go just after the first launch, maybe because there's not much to choose. I think the applet manages great with its main task: teach people the basics of astronomy in a fun and exciting way to be on short terms with the universe. I don't agree about AstroNavigator II being "useless for eclipses, twilight, sun rise/set". You can see eclipses from the past and future if you are not lucky enough to watch the actual sun eclipse. All you need to do is to set the date, time and choose a location. I'll forward the screenshots with visible sun eclipses or sunsets to Tariq, maybe he'll update the review sometime. I think it's a good idea to include the time of sunset/rise though into AstroNavigator II. Dear Gary Oberbrunner,
Thank you very much for your comment. You get it right when you say that AstroNavigator II is ” not a “serious” astronomy program”. We always try to keep things easy, here at VITO. This too much eye candy, as you call it, helps a regular user feel confident when he looks in the night sky fro the first time, and finally they find themselves interested in astronomy - just because they can finally recognize the stars or planets above them. I’ve learnt my horoscope constellation (cancer) this way myself and finally started to recognize the Great Bear (Ursa Major).

I completely agree with you when you advise Pocket Stars as a serious alternative. I would also add that the latter is more for professionals unlike AstroNavigator II. We tried here Pocket Stars and could not figure out what to do in half an hour, so just uninstalled it. The impression was - a lot of features but you really don’t know what to do with them all and what are they for. So, when you say “selectable magnitude limit” or “ephemeris” - these words make me shiver. With AstroNavigator II you are ready to go just after the first launch, maybe because there’s not much to choose. I think the applet manages great with its main task: teach people the basics of astronomy in a fun and exciting way to be on short terms with the universe.

I don’t agree about AstroNavigator II being “useless for eclipses, twilight, sun rise/set”. You can see eclipses from the past and future if you are not lucky enough to watch the actual sun eclipse. All you need to do is to set the date, time and choose a location. I’ll forward the screenshots with visible sun eclipses or sunsets to Tariq, maybe he’ll update the review sometime. I think it’s a good idea to include the time of sunset/rise though into AstroNavigator II.

]]> By: Tariq Bamadhaj http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-684 Tariq Bamadhaj Fri, 26 Oct 2007 02:10:21 +0000 http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-684 Hi Gary Thanks for bringing up the points. I am sure the developer will find them useful. The developer tells me that you can use your GPS and turn on the digital compass and the screen will only show you what you can see based on your position and direction. So if you turn, the screen will turn as well. I am going to try it out and see if it works for me and maybe you can try for yourself too. As for whether it being a serious astronomy program, I am in no position to say that, based on my lack of knowledge of the stars to begin with. But what I can say is that if developers could incorporate the engine behind AstroNavigatorII in their own programs, it would make for much better user experience. Hi Gary

Thanks for bringing up the points. I am sure the developer will find them useful. The developer tells me that you can use your GPS and turn on the digital compass and the screen will only show you what you can see based on your position and direction. So if you turn, the screen will turn as well. I am going to try it out and see if it works for me and maybe you can try for yourself too.

As for whether it being a serious astronomy program, I am in no position to say that, based on my lack of knowledge of the stars to begin with. But what I can say is that if developers could incorporate the engine behind AstroNavigatorII in their own programs, it would make for much better user experience.

]]> By: Gary Oberbrunner http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-683 Gary Oberbrunner Fri, 26 Oct 2007 01:40:11 +0000 http://www.etenblog.com/2007/10/24/learn-the-skies-with-astronavigatorii/#comment-683 I just tried it on your recommendation, and didn't like it at all. First, the annoying background images seem impossible to turn off. Second, too much eye candy! The stars have little asterisms around them, for instance, and the sun is a huge glowing glob. Useless for eclipses, twilight, sun rise/set, or any other standard astronomy program functions. Third, there's no selectable magnitude limit. Also no ephemeris for any objects (unless I missed it?) However: the smooth screen scrolling on my X500+ is really really nice! Almost makes up for the rest of the problems. I think it's not a "serious" astronomy program, but for fun it's not bad. For a more serious alternative, try Nomad's Pocket Stars (http://www.nomadelectronics.com/) I just tried it on your recommendation, and didn’t like it at all. First, the annoying background images seem impossible to turn off. Second, too much eye candy! The stars have little asterisms around them, for instance, and the sun is a huge glowing glob. Useless for eclipses, twilight, sun rise/set, or any other standard astronomy program functions. Third, there’s no selectable magnitude limit. Also no ephemeris for any objects (unless I missed it?)

However: the smooth screen scrolling on my X500+ is really really nice! Almost makes up for the rest of the problems.

I think it’s not a “serious” astronomy program, but for fun it’s not bad. For a more serious alternative, try Nomad’s Pocket Stars (http://www.nomadelectronics.com/)

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